o 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Microsurgical closing of a SDAVF brings good and stable results over time. Aggressive treatment should be attempted even in cases of total loss of spinal cord function. Neurological condition before surgery and age may influence the outcome.

A shift toward the endovascular treatment of ophthalmic segment aneurysms is noticeable. However, it is not clear if the long-term treatment results improve with the development of endovascular methods. The aim of this study was to present the outcomes of the treatment of unruptured ophthalmic aneurysms using flow diverting devices (FDD) with or without coiling. This retrospective study included 52 patients with 65 UIAs treated in 2009–2016. The mean aneurysm size was 8.8 mm. Eight aneurysms were symptomatic. Therapeutic procedures included: 5 failed attempts, 55 first sessions with FDD deployment (bilateral procedures in 3) and 3 retreatment procedures. To cover 55 ICAs, 25 Silk, 26 Pipeline, 9 Fred and 1 Surpass FDD were used. FDD with coiling was applied in 19(29.2%), mainly for symptomatic and larger aneurysms. Mean radiological and clinical follow-up was 12 and 61 months, respectively. Postprocedural deterioration was noted in 3(5.8%) patients, but in long-term the modified Rankin Scale grades 0–2 were achieved in 98.1% of patients. One patient died from the treated aneurysm rupture (annual risk—0.07%). Raymond–Roy occlusion classification class I or II was achieved in 98.5% in the long term, with similar results in both groups. Complications occurred in 40.4% of patients and the most frequent were: imperfect FDD deployment (15%), failed attempt of FDD deployment (9.6%) and late FDD stenosis (9.6%). Flow-diverting devices, with additional coiling in selected cases, may offer a very high proportion of satisfactory outcomes. However, in our experience the high risk of complications remains.

The development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has led to an increasingly frequent detection of changes in the spinal cord. The most common intramedullary lesions are: demyelinating; vascular; inflammatory; infectious; and congenital, largely called tumor-like lesions. Spinal cord tumors are relatively rare, as compared with brain tumors. The hardest task is to conclude whether the spinal cord lesion is a tumor or a tumor-like lesion. This review is intended to help evaluate the spinal cord and gives an overview of the tumor-like lesions occurring in the spinal cord along with their characteristic.

Endometriosis is a common gynaecological disorder manifesting by implantation and growth of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. The evidence accumulates that endometriosis may be associated with abrogated regulation of energy balance. Ghrelin is one of the most important orexigenic factor which may also play a role in regulation of inflammatory and angiogenic reactions. The present study was aimed at investigating expression profile of ghrelin and its receptors (GHSR1α and GHSR1β) in endometriotic lesions. The study included ovarian cysts and peritoneal fluid specimens obtained laparoscopically from 20 women with revised American Fertility Society stage III or IV endometriosis. Expression of specific mRNAs was assessed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Expression of ghrelin and GHSR1α protein was studied by immunohistochemical staining with specific antibodies. Ghrelin and its receptors mRNA expression was found in all tested specimens. Specific mRNAs for these factors were also expressed in the peritoneal leukocytes. Immunohistochemical staining revealed expression of ghrelin and GHSR1α both in glandular endometrioid epithelium and in some stromal cells, particularly in some fibroblasts, blood vessels and infiltrating leukocytes. Co-localization of ghrelin and its receptors strongly suggests that this neuropeptide may affect development and growth of endometriotic lesions and may influence local inflammatory and angiogenic response.